When I was in high school I wanted a pair of Justin Ropers, a type of boots that
were very popular in a town where many of the teenagers knew how to ride a
horse. I wasnโt one of those teenagers, but I still wanted boots.
I did live out in the country and considered myself to have a tomboy side, so
having a pair of country-looking boots seemed pretty normal to me.
Unfortunately, on the first day I wore them to school, I felt extremely out of
place. I remember feeling like a fraud as I walked past a group of girls who it
seemed had earned the right to wear their boots, because they had horses and I
didnโt.
Sadly, I knew I wasnโt the real thing, like those other girls, and everybody
else probably knew it. It wasnโt until my real, cowgirl friend, Amy, stopped me
in the hall to say she liked my pair of boots that I began to feel like I
belonged in them. After that, I wore them as much as I wanted to. The only thing
I would change about that story is the part about my needing someone else to
make me feel worthy enough to wear those boots.
There is just something about donning a pair of cowgirl boots that makes you
feel strong and like youโre part of something that can only be described as
rugged and earthy. Put on western boots and suddenly youโre a part of a group of
tough women who can handle anything -- even if you arenโt really a cowgirl.
Manda Marshall, the main character in
THE REAL THING, marries a
cowboy, but she isnโt really a cowgirl. She doesnโt even know how to ride a
horse. Like me with my cute pair of boots in high school, she feels like a fraud
in her boots, but there is much more to her story than that.
What about you? Do you wear boots? What do you don when you need a little
something to make you feel stronger?
Tina Ann Forkner is a substitute teacher and award-winning
author of multiple novels including her newest release
The Real Thing. Her
novel,
Waking Up Joy, is a recipient of the Virginia Romance Writers
HOLT Medallion Award of Merit for Romantic Elements. Tina is also a proud member
of Tall Poppy Writers and Womenโs Fiction Writers Association. Learn More:
www.tinaannforkner.com
Sometimes you have to don a pair of cowgirl boots...
Manda Marshall is ready to leave heartache behind when she marries Keith
Black, a champion saddle bronc cowboy and man of her dreams. But going from the
serenity of small town Tennessee to the exhilaration of the rodeo, nothing can
prepare her for being a cowboyโs wife. Becoming the new stepmom to Keithโs
little boy and teenaged daughter has Manda relying on her deep sense of longing
for a family and budding love for her stepchildren to strengthen their bond.
Mandaโs desire of being a rodeo cowboyโs wife begins to take second
place as she works to reinvent a life for herself and new family, but when
mysterious phone calls from Keithโs missing ex-wife dredge up the past, Manda
finds her marriage and family in an unusual and heart wrenching dilemma. The
life she had worked so hard to build is suddenly redefined and her commitment to
her husband and family is tested.
What Manda discovers has the power to
heal or break her family in this emotional tale of cowboys, rodeo queens, and
what it really means to ride beside a cowboy and his family, no matter the risk.
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